Rick Genest [Punk Zombie]

It was at the age of 19 that the now 26-year-old Rick Genest, known commonly as “Rico” and “Zombie Boy,” committed to his full-body tattoo project, putting his then pristinely pale skin in the hands of tattoo artist Frank Lewis to began transforming his body into a veritable piece art that depicts a decaying body. Strangely enough, it was the death-laden images inscribed onto his flesh that gave birth to Genest’s career as an icon, muse, circus act and high-end fashion model. Following his inking, Genest joined sideshows and contemporary carnivals, and even started his own traveling freak show titled Lucifer’s Blasphemous Mad Macabre Torture Carnival. Then one day, Thierry Mugler’s creative director, Nicola Formichetti, came calling, and in no time at all, Genest was walking the runways of Paris, starring in ad campaigns and globetrotting with the likes of Lady Gaga (Formichetti’s personal client). It seems this is just the beginning for Genest, who, despite a growing mainstream persona, longs only to give his punk rock cronies “a place to live” back in Montreal and return the favors they did for him.